Netanyahu: Israel is committed to preventing enemies from acquiring nuclear capabilities

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, stated on Wednesday evening, April 1, in his first statement after acknowledging responsibility for the eleven-year-old attack by the Israeli army on the Syrian nuclear reactor, that his country "follows a persistent policy in preventing enemies from acquiring nuclear capabilities." The Israeli army confirmed for the first time on Wednesday morning that the bombing of the nuclear reactor in Al-Khabar in the Deir ez-Zor region of eastern Syria, which occurred in September 2007, was carried out by Israel. According to Israeli media, Mr. Netanyahu added in his statement in response to this official acknowledgment of responsibility that "the government, the army, and the Mossad deserve appreciation for their joint efforts to prevent Syria from acquiring nuclear capabilities." Before Mr. Netanyahu, several other current Israeli officials, including Israel Katz, the Minister of Information, emphasized that Israel is currently warning Iran and Syria that if they seek to acquire nuclear capabilities, Israel will prevent it and "will never allow such a possibility to them." Iran has not responded to the recent statements of Israeli leaders but has always emphasized that it is not seeking to acquire a nuclear weapons program and will defend itself in the event of an attack. The Israeli army took responsibility for the 2007 attack on the Syrian nuclear reactor after a decade of enforced silence from Israeli institutions regarding important state secrets came to an end. Ehud Olmert, the former Prime Minister of Israel who issued the final order for the attack on Syria, spoke for the first time on Wednesday about this significant decision during his premiership. Additionally, many former Israeli officials and military commanders, who were involved in the decision and execution of that attack, provided new details about the discussions before and after the attack in multiple interviews with Israeli media on Wednesday. "Regret" of Lieberman for agreeing to the publication of the secret of the attack on Syria. Meanwhile, Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli Minister of Defense, stated on Wednesday that he regretted allowing the military censorship to confirm the secret of Israel's attack on Syria. Mr. Lieberman referred to the severe conflicts that arose between former Mossad leaders and military intelligence regarding the decision to attack the Syrian reactor, calling it "shameful." According to Haaretz, the Minister of Defense said, "The genie is out of the bottle," and officials and leaders at the time suddenly found the opportunity to reveal many details of information and engage in conflict with each other, which could be "extremely harmful to Israel's security." Former heads of important military and intelligence institutions in Israel have been embroiled in disputes over which agency was responsible for discovering the existence of these facilities in Syria before the attack.